Missouri
| State website: | General, House Committee, Senate Committee |
| 2010-cycle districts: | Congress, State Senate, State House « NEW |
| 2000-cycle districts: | Congress, State Senate, State House |
| Primary governing law: | Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 2, 5, 7 |
Congress: On May 4, 2011, the legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto of HB193, enacting the plan into law. Legal challenges have been rejected.
State leg: Both politician commissions -- one for state Senate districts, one for state House districts -- deadlocked. The process then fell to a backup body of six state appellate judges, which issued state Senate and state House plans on November 30, and revised state Senate plans on December 9. The original state Senate plan was declared unlawful, and the backup body was declared without authority to pass a revised plan, so a different politican commission convened to draw a new state Senate plan. On Feb. 22, 2012, the new commission produced tentative plans, and on March 12, the commission released a final state Senate map.
The state House plan was also challenged in court, but challenges to that plan were rejected.
- Institution
Redistricting political control:
Governor State Senate State House Congressional lines D 8 D, 26 R 57 D, 106 R State legislative lines Politician commissions, each with balanced partisan composition 2000 cong. lines D 14 D, 18 R 87 D, 76 R 2000 state lines Politician commissions, each with balanced partisan composition Missouri's congressional districts are drawn by the state legislature, as a regular statute, subject to gubernatorial veto. The members of the state House committee responsible for redistricting are listed here; the members of the state Senate committee are listed here.
The state legislative lines are drawn by two separate politician commissions, in place since 1966. For the state House, each major party's congressional district committee nominates 2 members per congressional district (who may not share the same state legislative district), and the Governor chooses 1 per district per party. For the state Senate, each major party's state party committee nominates 10 members, and the Governor chooses 5 per party. State statutes currently prevent active lobbyists from serving on either commission. For either commission, a plan must receive support from 70% of the commissioners in order to pass. [Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 2, 7; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 105.967]
Both commissions' members are listed here.
If one of the commissions does not agree on a legislative plan by the appropriate deadline, the state Supreme Court will appoint a commission of six state appellate judges to draw those lines. [Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 2, 7]
- Timing
Census data were delivered to Missouri on February 24, 2011.
Missouri state law does not impose a particular deadline for drawing congressional lines, though candidates must file for congressional primary elections by March 27, 2012. [Mo. Rev. Stat. § 115.349(1)
For state legislative districts, tentative plans must be drawn within five months of each respective commission's appointment, and final maps must be drawn within six months of the commission's appointment. The commissions were both appointed on March 18, 2011; tentative plans must be drawn by August 18, 2011, and final plans must be drawn by September 18, 2011.
If either commission fails to draw a plan, the state Supreme Court will appoint a commission of six appellate judges, which must draw that respective plan within 90 days. [Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 2, 7] Candidates must file for state legislative primary elections by March 27, 2012. [Mo. Rev. Stat. § 115.349(1)
Missouri prohibits redrawing state legislative district lines mid-decade, before the next Census. For congressional districts, state law ties the drawing of lines to the Census, and might therefore be construed to prohibit redrawing lines mid-decade. [Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 2, 7, 45; Preisler v. Doherty, 284 S.W.2d 427, 436-37 (Mo. 1955)]
- Public input
State law provides for at least three public hearings on state legislative plans, at least one of which must be held after a commission submits a tentative state legislative plan. [Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 2, 7]
Hearings for the commissions responsible for state legislative redistricting are listed here, and meeting materials are archived here.
- Criteria
Like all states, Missouri must comply with constitutional equal population requirements; for its state legislative lines, Missouri further asks districts to be as nearly equally populated "as possible." [Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 2, 5, 7]
Missouri must also, like all states, abide by section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
Missouri also requires both congressional and state legislative districts to be contiguous, and as compact "as may be." The state further requires that county lines not be divided in drawing state Senate districts, except where otherwise required by law. [Mo. Const. art. III, §§ 2, 5, 7, 45]
- 2010-cycle cases
Due to the volume of filings, information on the Missouri cases is located on a separate litigation page, here.
- 2000 cycle
In the 2000 redistricting cycle, Missouri's legislature enacted a congressional plan that was signed on June 1, 2001. Because neither commission could agree on a state legislative plan, however, the state legislative districts were drawn by a court-appointed committee of appellate judges. and state legislative district plans on November 30, 2001. It appears that neither plan was challenged in court.
- Other state links
Columbia Missourian slideshow of all past Missouri maps
